Comic timing is use of rhythm and tempo to enhance comedy and humor. The pacing of the delivery of a joke has a strong impact on its comic effect; the same is also true of more physical comedy such as slapstick.

A beat is a pause taken for the purposes of comic timing, often to allow the audience time to recognize the joke and react, or to heighten the suspense before delivery of the expected punch line.

Sometimes those outside the comedy business assume that there must be some set period of silent time "that's funny." Aside from a few comedic pauses intended only to heighten an already established tension, nothing could be further from the truth. Instead, pauses are one of the clues we use to discern subtext or even unconscious content - that is, what the speaker is really thinking about. If this contrasts sharply with their words or what's polite or expected, that's funny. Therefore, either a shorter or longer pause can be quite funny, depending on the context; that is, so long as it shows that the speaker is in fact thinking about "what they shouldn't be thinking about." Jack Benny is always thinking more about his wallet than even his life, and economic, mathematical calculations take time. So his pauses have to be especially long. By exaggerating these, he also leaves the impression that he's not even very bright when making these inappropriate economic calculations, further heightening the joke by extending the contrast between his response and a more normal response. Reversing this, extremely quick or even overlapping verbal expressions of agreement can be used to show (say) inappropriate sexual interest on the part of the actor expressing agreement, which might also be quite funny if that's not really what they're supposed to be thinking about at that moment.

Jack Benny and Victor Borge are two comedians famed for using the extended beat, allowing the pause to itself become a source of humor above the original joke. George Carlin and Rowan Atkinson are two other stand-up comedians well known for superior timing.

Contents

1 George Carlin 2 Rowan Atkinson 3 Victor Borge 4 Margaret Cho 5 Physical Comic Timing 6 Farce 7 Meta-observation

George Carlin

Carlin's most famous routine is his "Seven Words You Can't Say On Television", in which much of the humour is derived from his rapid-fire delivery of the seven words "shit, piss, fuck, cunt, cocksucker, motherfucker and tits". The remainder of the routine is a mock-scholarly analysis of why these words are not as bad as the world would have us believe - complete with observations like "Cocksucker and motherfucker...well...I can dig why those words might be on the list". Here, comic timing is used again as Carlin moves from the rapid list to a more reasoned - but none the less funny - dissection of the words. The fact that he dwells on certain words emphasises their humour. Additionally, he gives the audience enough time to react to his digressions ("Tits shouldn't be on the list, it sounds like a snack. Yes, yes, I know, it is a snack, right...(beat)...but I'm not talking about your sexist snack. I'm talking new Nabisco Tits!") before returning to his main theme for even more laughs.

Rowan Atkinson

Atkinson is another example of timing in this regard. One of his routines involves him reading a class roll of students at what we can assume is an exclusive English school. In one version of this routine, each name is something borderline "rude", such as "Our Russian exchange student (beat) Suckmeoff". Here, Atkinson builds the joke carefully by waiting for the audience to anticipate the full ramifications of a Russian exchange student's possibly offensive name, then announces it and - just as a teacher would - waits for his "students" to stop their laughter before repeating the process. In this sort of routine, it is very important to use beats as simply racing through the list would spoil the effect of many of the jokes. The alternative version of this routine has the class roll containing inoffensive names, such as Smith or Brown, which are pronounced in a manner designed to make them seem offensive ("Brown" turns into something like "Brrrrrrowwwwwnnnnn"). The comic timing here is such that Atkinson needs to wait for the complete effect of the over-pronounced name to sink in as well as waiting for the audience to realise that the name is not of itself offensive. Again, to simply race through the class list would spoil the effect.

Victor Borge

Commonly recognised as the master of comic timing, the late Danish-American comedian Victor Borge provides even more examples of this art. Much of his routine involved references to particular pieces of classical music, opera and composers. Thus, he frequently needed to pause to accommodate his audience's memories of what a piece like The Third Man Theme was supposed to sound like, as opposed to what it sounded like when he played it. Having learned English as a second language, Borge was known for frequently playing around with its conventions. A prime example is his question to his audience, "Is there anyone who would like to hear the famous Polonaise in A Flat by Chopin?" After hearing the inevitable calls of "Yes, yes", Borge would respond, "Very well, is there anyone here who can play it?" Another famous line is his explanation for the third foot pedal on a grand piano - "The pedal in the middle is there to separate the other two pedals...(beat)...which could be a problem for those of you who have three feet." Borge, therefore, builds his audience up to the joke, but only delivers the actual punchline when he is fully aware that they are silent and prepared to hear it. That said, his famous "Inflationary Language" routine demonstrates the other side of this statement. In this routine, Borge adds one to every "number in the language", making "wonderful" into "two-derful" and so on. The routine then consists of Borge reading a story under this system. The comic timing is seen by the way that he reads alternately slowly and rapidly, in keeping with the action of the story.

Margaret Cho

In addition to the uses mentioned above, a beat can serve to allow the laughter to die down after a punch line so that an unexpected second and even funnier punch line can be delivered. One example from Margaret Cho's repertoire is the following: "I performed at the only gay bar in all of Scotland. It was called CC Bloom's. CC Bloom is the name of the character Bette Midler played in Beaches. That is the gayest thing I've ever heard in my entire life. They should just call it F*** Me Up The Ass." (laughter) (pause) "...bar and grill."

Physical Comic Timing

Comic timing can also be seen in the more physical forms of comedy as well. Every slapstick comedian from Charlie Chaplin onwards has relied on the physical joke being made at just the right time. The bucket of water never falls until the audience has built up for it to just the right level.

Farce

The farce is another prime example of comic timing. Here, the humour is derived both from rapid speech and rapid movement - people running into and out of rooms at breakneck speed and managing to cause havoc in the process.

Meta-observation

"Ask me what's the secret of success in comedy." "What's the secret of -" "Timing."